美国国家公共电台 NPR Armed At Church: Why This Congregation Is 'Not A Gun-Free Zone'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

When the parishioners at one church in upstate New York gather for worship each week, many of them are armed. The church even advertises its open-carry policy online. From member station WRVO, Payne Horning reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF PARISHIONERS SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Oh, thank you, God. I see the light...

PAYNE HORNING, BYLINE¹: Walking into the Lighthouse Mexico Church of God on a Sunday morning is more like joining a family reunion than attending a service. Music plays for the first half as the parishioners move about the church, greeting one another and joining in community prayers. The pastor², Ron Russell, says he's commissioned by God to ensure their safety. And he cares for his flock with a loaded gun, as do several unidentified members of his congregation.

RON RUSSELL: Even when you walked in and you had no knowledge and I'm not going to identify who the young ladies were, but they had you pegged³. And they said, he's either a reporter, or he's a stranger with a bag. And we're going to watch him. They were all armed.

HORNING: Janine Fortino, one of the church's singers, says the policy makes her feel safe, especially since she performs at the front of the church for the first half of the service.

JANINE FORTINO: I'm very vulnerable up there. And knowing that I'm taken care of and protected is a very good feeling.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOT)

RUSSELL: Right in the center. I seen that one.

HORNING: Twice a year, the pastor accompanies volunteers from his parish to practice at a local gun range. Pastor Russell has encouraged his parishioners to bring their firearms to church since 2013. That's when the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., was targeted in a mass shooting. But Robert Spitzer disagrees with his approach. He's a SUNY Cortland political science professor who has written extensively about gun control. Spitzer says arming civilians⁴ is actually the least desirable way to deal with violence problems.

ROBERT SPITZER: Armed civilians are amateurs, and they're more likely to fire a stray shot that might hurt somebody unintentionally. They may mistake an armed perpetrator from another person who's trying to help.

HORNING: And there's little to no evidence that so-called good guys with a gun provide meaningful help in a mass shooting.

SPITZER: There are lots of ways, more ways that things can go wrong than can go right.

HORNING: Spitzer says well-intentioned civilians with guns typically add to the mayhem and confusion for police. Michael Gaita, an Oswego County sheriff's deputy, thinks that more people should be prepared for mass shooting incidents. But rather than arming civilians, he advocates for situational awareness⁵. It's a course he offers that focuses on preventing mass shootings by looking for warning signs.

MICHAEL GAITA: If I can train you what to look for. Then you can get involved and stop it from happening because when the police respond, it's too late.

HORNING: That police response is part of the reason Pastor Ron Russell says he's asked parishioners to carry guns. The minutes it can take law enforcement to arrive on the scene can be all it takes for a shooter to massacre⁶ a crowd.

(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)

HORNING: Back at the range, Russell beams with pride as he watches his parishioners, even as some miss the target entirely⁷.

RUSSELL: I don't like victims. I like victors.

HORNING: Russell stands by his policy, saying if he's not proactive in his attempts to stop a mass shooting, then he's complicit. For NPR News, I'm Payne Horning in Hastings, N.Y.

(SOUNDBITE OF PARISHIONERS SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) In my soul. There's a sun coming up in my soul, in my soul. I see the light. I see the light. I see the light. I see the light.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

3 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。